How Getting Braces Now Can Boost Your Child's Self-Image Later

Adolescents have always struggled with feeling self-conscious about their appearance, and the problem is only getting worse in the age of social media. Helping your child to look as good as they possibly can in the future is something you can do to help them to feel better about themselves as they age. If you've been told that your child could use braces, here's how getting them could vastly improve your child's sense of self-image in a way that goes way beyond their teeth look.

How Braces Can Change Development

When a child or adolescent is still growing, it's possible for a dentist to help shape the way that their jaw grows. This can not only help to provide more space for teeth and correct alignment issues, but it can also benefit the way your child's jaw looks later in life.

If your child needs their teeth straightened, there's a good chance that they will develop an overbite or underbite without help. This leads to the appearance of a weak chin, droopy neck and no defined jaw line later in life. Thankfully, your child's orthodontist can help to change the way your child's jaw grows, ensuring that the upper and lower levels are equal and appropriately sized.

Why It's Hard to Change Later

It isn't impossible to improve the appearance of jaw defects later in life, but it's much harder. In some cases, braces can be used to improve the way the upper and lower jaw meet. However, even braces tend to take longer later in life. In severe cases of underbites or overbites, surgery may be required to remove excess bone or to extend existing bones to get the right look. This obviously comes with some risk and a whole lot of downtime to recover from surgery.

What to Expect

If you want your child to have braces to give them the best looking smile and jaw later in life, you should know that the process is fairly easy.

You'll have several appointments with your orthodontist to discuss your child's oral health, your intended goals, and to provide visual approximations of how your child's jaw and teeth will change via treatment. If everything is agreed to, the treatment can begin very soon after. Your child's brackets will be attached, the wires will be snaked through, and then the adjustments can begin.

Braces for kids can make a big difference in the way a child's jaw looks later in life. Consider the extra benefits that braces have to offer in addition to the great smile your child will have when they're finished with treatment.